Aroura

Here, me me me!!! I have a boxer! :D Let me be the first to say your friend has good taste in dogs!!! They're a great breed, yes, some tend to drool, burp, fart etc but for the love and companionship they give these are just some little things that are made up for by thousands of good traits (did I say thousands? I meant millions :wink: ) Though I'm not going to write an essay on exactly how good they are cuz I'll be here all year plus I'm a little tired and think bed is calling. As for health problems, providing they are bought from a good breeder who tests their dogs and are brought up on a propper diet they are a suprisingly healthy breed. They are not an outdoor dog as besides their obvious inability to cope with extreme weather conditions they just can't get enough attention, they want to be with you at all times of the day, right by your side... Lilys on my feet at the moment, licking my toes :lol: They do have a short life expectancy, but why deny yourself some of the best years of your life just because they wont last as long? Boxers aren't for everyone though, although they are extremely smart and can do very well in obedience if trained properly they can also be very stubborn and hard to control. If your friend can't handle a bit of dog slobber then she shouldn't get a boxer, although they don't drool [i]that[/i] much, they drool enough that it could pose a problem if your friend is a clean freak. I love things to be clean, but I would make any exceptions for my Lily, even when she slobbers all over my best clothes I'll just give her a kiss and know that she means well 8) They can also be very boisterous as a pup, so if your friend can't handle a dog that will jump all over her or any kids etc and knock them over then a boxer is a bad choice. They are a breed that would kill you with love if that was possible, they are very loyal and will give their life to protect their owner. Anyway, if you want to know anything else just ask, I wasn't sure exactly what info you were after :roll:

Lily always watches people and immitates them, she knows how to open nearly every door in if the house, and whenever I take her to visit friends by the time I leave its her opening the door to leave rather than me :wink: She even knows how to unlock some doors! Anyway, dad was out the back picking apricots off our apricot tree today while Lily lay on the ground next to him eating all the ones that had already fallen. Dad came in with a bucket of apricots and ten minutes later we looked out the window and there was Lily, standing on her hind legs picking apricots!!!! Then if they were unripe she'd just leave them on the ground, but if they were ripe she would actually eat the fruit and spit out the seed, then back to more picking! :lol: Its a funny site, watching a boxer walk around on hind legs picking apricots... what a smart dog?

My advice: if you want a cat like dog get a basenji, if you want a dog like cat get a devon rex (or you could just contact some cartoon writers and get a cat-dog :lol: ) Basenji's are small, almost cat sized, incredibly clean, clean their face like cats, don't bark, are oderless and prance around like they own the place - just like a cat. They are also one of the cutest most lovable breeds around... trust me, I used to own one :D Devon Rex's are often reffered to as the dog of the cat world, plus they are virtually furless so do not shed every where. They are similar to a siamese in character, very trainable (for a cat) and will even play fetch if taught to. They will follow you around the house and just be absolute darlings 24/7. Siamese are also great, my boy is the most gorgeous cat I've ever seen and everyone who meets him says the same about him. He's got these amazing blue eyes that just capture people and its love at first sight for everyone who meets him. Feed any cat a good diet and it wont shed that much fur, excessive fur shedding is a sign of bad health. Or you could just go with a rat, they are like half dog half cat, they groom themself all day and are independant like a cat, but they chase you around and follow commands like a dog. They don't have any of the bad traits of either cats or dogs and I consider them the perfect pet for anyone, aside from that you have to clean their cage weekly. Whatever you decide I hope your pet has a long healthy life and you're both happy with your decision :wink:

Bad vet as he may be, I doubt he'd actually be CRUEL to any animals... I dunno, I've always loved him though ever since I was a little kid and have loads of his signatures floating around the house. I'll never forget the time he was to appear at some canberra show years ago when I was still tiney... about a week before he was due my canary died and I insisted in freezing it until he came so he could have a look at it. LOL, when we finally caught up with him amoungst all his fans getting signatures mum pulled the bird out of her purse :lol: It was a kinda funny situation now when I think back to it, he told me there wasn't much he could do for it now but that he probably died of air sack mite. I'd beleive any rumour about Don Bourke though, his guidelines to breeding: *Find a purebred puppy *Wait till its big enough then find another dog of the same breed. *Let them at it. *Wait a few months, raise the pups and sell them for more then they are worth. What an idiot? :evil:

She's only one year old, but I do agree she's trying to climb up in rank in the ladder of dominance. Tessa is 4 years old, so she's always been the alpha dog until now. I think I will need some serious long chats with the trainers at the dog club as, aside from her aggresion towards Tessa I'm worried about her aggresion towards other dogs... such as a Pit Bull/Ridgeback cross built like a barrel that she tried to challenge today... stupid owners don't know the meaning of shutting the gate and let their savage beast have free range of the street around the house. The dog came charging at us and instread of backing down Lily lunged at it and all hell would have broken loose if I would have let Lily at her, but luckily for us when I pulled Lily back the other dog retreated back into its yard. The owners of that dog can be expecting a fairly nasty letter in the mail, that dog probably would have killed Lily given half a chance :evil: Then there was the little kid in the yard we walked past who Lily raised her hackles up at and growled at... thats what worrys me the most. She's always played with kids before and now suddenly she sees them as a threat. One thing I can assure you of though is that I will NEVER give up, aside from her recent attitude she's still, and will always be, my little angel :angel:

Thanks a heap wildbuch, it looks like a great muzzle, but I'm not sure if it would be the best design for a Boxer??? :-? It does have a size for Boxers, I've bookmarked the page. Does anyone know anything about basket muzzles? I've heard they're good too.

Thanks Carol, I'll take that into consideration. When I got Lily I promised to call every now and again to let her know how she's going. When I bought Lily I told the breeder that I was intending to breed and she was glad to know she was going to a good home and said Lily would be excellent to breed but to contact her before I bred so she could help me find a good stud dog. I'll ask her about the bloodlines etc rather than telling her that they are bad. I'm not sure if her troubles are entirely due to her situation, she has always been very protective over me and since I got her she has been unhappy with other dogs coming near me. She's so perfect in every other way though, its such a pity I can't breed her... but you've gotta do what you've gotta do!

Yeah, I'm still here :wink: Thanks for the posts, k I understand completely about dogs being in the wrong situation etc... you see it here every day with cattle dogs chained up in backyards and then being put down because for absolutly no reason whatsoever the dog bit someone :( ilive4rotties, I never mentioned she was in heat, and even said I was getting her desexed, so whats with the rant? No, I'm not breeding her anymore, I paid alot of money to buy her so I could breed her, but I'm not stupid enough to continue her bloodline if its going to give the breed a bad name. I'm going to give the breeder a call too, not only to talk to her about it and ask her for help, but also to let her know that there is a bad bloodline in there. Hmm, I know it will be hard finding a muzzle, but I'm still going to look. Any suggestions on the type of muzzle? I'd only use it in cases where trouble could occur such as social gatherings etc and when young kids are around. Prevention is always better than cure, and with our laws etc the only cure is for the dog to be put down, and I'm not going to have that happen :o I agree about the present thing, she must have remembered what happend last time or something, but now everytime she sees Tess inside she growls and gets her hackles up, good thing she knows I'm alpha though, now all I say is "stop it Lily" and she'll back down and just sit and glare at Tess. Although she is still angry, she is alot more easily controlled now. I'm going to speak to the members at Lilys training club, they should be able to help out :roll:

Lily is becoming a serious problem, she's out of control. Yesterday she started a fight with Tessa over nothing at all, we were just all sitting around the christmas tree and I thought the dogs should be with us for the present openings, as they are part of the family. If that wasn't bad enough, when we took the dogs out for a picnic Lily had a go at Tessa in the car, then again while we were at the park, then when it was time to go she wouldn't let Tess in the car, just sat there and growled and threatend to attack. Today she hasn't been much better, in fact she's been a whole lot worse. Its like she's out to get in trouble. She can't be in the same room as Tessa and whenever I'm not right next to her she just whines and whines. This morning she carrying on something shocking, barking like mad. There was a little kid in the neighbours yard and when I went out he poked his head over the fence. I asked him if he wanted to meet Puddles and picked her up and he gave her a pat. Then Lily came running around the corner, hackles up just growling and barking at this little kid staring him right in the eyes, which worrys me... dog aggression is one thing but when she looks at a little kid like that ready to attack, even if she is just protecting her territory, its a really bad sign. Any suggestions would be great, I'm taking her to the vets asap to get desexed and buying her a muzzle. Its terribly dissapointing that she's turned out like this, especially as I was looking forward so much to breeding her etc. :cry:

Thanks for your concern stargaze. I was a mess two years ago, going out every night of the week, having all nighters and never sleeping. Now I try to save going out for weekends or special occasions, such as birthdays etc. I never ring my friends just wanting to go out, I always wait for them to ring me, and if they don't I just stay home. I know when to stop drinking and have a lot of control when I'm drunk compared to everyone else I know so although I go out I never get myself in trouble. I'm hopefully going to uni next year, so, although everyone see's it as a chance for a 5 year non stop party I think it will stop me going out etc because I'm just going to have to study all the time! Anyway, thanks again, just thought I'd let you know that I'm not that bad anymore!!!!

First I want to say thank you to Corgi, BK, anne and stargaze. Corgi, yes, you are so right about other people not being able to understand what its like living with a schizophrenic. Some times it drives you nuts, other times you just want to cry... this poor boy, my brother, with these horrible voices in his head that just wont leave him alone. How much torture is he in? Yes, he does go through his bad stages where I am scared to even breathe, but the rest of the time he is like this scared little boy trapped inside this 21 year olds body, trying to make sence of the world. He does love Lily, I can see it when he plays with her, but yes, he also has these voices telling him that she's evil at times. I havn't seen him chasing her for a few days now, I was a little reluctant to say that because I know some people in here will just accuse me of lying and changing the story for it, but its true. Just because my story changes as my life drastically changes every week, does not mean I'm lying!!! :o BK and anne, thanks for explaining that, it means I don't have to! To everyone who says that they would be looking for a way out, as you may remember I did find a way out at the beggining of the year. That fell through because it was a housing commision house that I was minding and the girl who 'owned' it had to hand the keys back in asking for a transfer. So then I moved into another house with friends, and that was absolutly chaotic. I moved in only asking one thing - that the dogs were allowed in at least my room. That worked out for a while, well from the dogs point of view... I was only there for them because living there for me was hell. I wont go into detail about the constant mess in that house and how it was driving me crazy as I like everything neat and tidey etc. The people I lived with smoked weed all day (and no sash, that wasn't my weed he got into, I don't smoke the stuff, just because I hear something and quote it doesn't mean I take it as gospel) and were generally the lazyest people I've ever met. So I had no choice but to move back home, and believe me, I've been trying to find a way out ever since but do you have any idea how hard it is to not only find people to move out with, but also to find an affordable house with a backyard with no references? Sash, I'm glad for you that you have a job and yadda yadda yadda... I didn't get a job when I'm younger and here in Aus its almost impossible to get a job after the age of 18 without previous experience. Yes, I did get accepted for a job, and it was a good job too but then when I did the medical they wouldn't let me work there because of my back. Do you know how bad I felt about that??? It was terrible, and I want a job more than anything and I don't need people judging me because I don't have one, its not by choice I don't have a job. I just started job training yesterday at the pub, its going to be for three weeks and then hopefully they will give me a job from it (I was talking to the staff last night and they all seemed to think it would be great if I worked there too). So maybe I will have a job soon, I don't know. Stargaze, thanks for being concerned. You don't have to worry about me taking heaps of drugs to forget whats going on, but I do admit that I drink to get away from things. The stress of living in this house gets to me so much that sometimes I just can't stand being here, it drives me nuts. I'm not neglecting my dogs, simply getting away from my family. I know that dad looks after Lily and Tess like they are his, so by no means are they being neglected, he even sneaks them into my room when mums not looking so when I get home I see my babys sleeping on my bed :wink: Its not like I go out for weeks on end, by the time I leave I've usually already fed and said goodnite to the dogs anyway and I get home in time to feed and play with them in the morning, so its almost like I'm not gone at all. Anyway, besides all that, I thought this was a forum to talk about dogs, not to mock and belittle those who are worse off than you. Maybe I was wrong.

I don't get you guys at all, are you simply being bitches just for the sake of it? Roo, all mighty one, just because your a moderater doesn't mean you can go shooting off at everyone pretending like you own the place, if you want such a power trip why don't you become a politition? You all go on about how you don't judge people and etc etc etc yet as soon as someone comes on here with a problem that is out of control and even though they are trying their best you all gang up and make out that just because your in a better situation that they are selfish and don't know how to look after their dogs. I was just offering some advice, and if you guys all want to be bitches about it then so be it, just because I'm the only one nice enough to give this person a chance and offer a suggestion doesn't mean you all have to mock me. What if they were telling the truth? You guys would sooner dub them a troll than help them, and you call yourself dog lovers? Your all a pack of selfish gits who think your better than everyone else. You know its true, call it what you like but that just sums it up true and simply. :evil:

How old is Winni??? Has he eaten a lot of bones before? Maybe its only because his gums weren't used to chewing through bones, or maybe the bones were too hard? There are alot of variations to BARF, I wouldn't exactly call it a 'recipe'. My dogs aren't entirely on BARF as I can't afford it at the moment (oh, but I do start working tomorrow!!!! :D ). My dogs basically get their dry food, plus chicken necks and grated vegetables. Tessa only occasionally gets that, but Lily gets a big bowl of it every day and she's so healthy and shiney... Before starting on BARF you do have to do alot of research though to make sure your dog doesn't get any deficiencys etc. If you want to know more I could reccomend a forum :wink:

[quote name='"roo"'][quote name='Aroura']I doubt he's serious, but if he is he needs some serious educating. Preventions better than cure, read the signs and stop the dogs BEFORE they're at each others throughts. :roll: :roll: :roll:[/quote] ????

What a gorgeous little puppy dawg!!! JRT's are the cutest little bounciest things aren't they? :wink: If you like message boards I'm sure you're gonna LOVE this one! :D

I am really sorry about my cursing, I was just really angry and stressed when I wrote the post.... not only at certain people calling me "selfish" and saying that I don't care about Lily, but also because I am the one who owns her, so of course I feel bad about it and that I have to watch her go through it, I love her with all my heart and the last thing I want is for people saying that I don't care about her!!! Roo, I can see your point, but I just don't think I could just leave her at the breeders for the weeks or months it may take to sort the situation out. She is a good breeder who's name is known throughout Australia, and as I said before I've no doubt she'd take her back, but I would much rather leave her at my friends house where I could visit her morning, noon and night, walk her every day and take her to obedience every week when it starts up again etc. Do you see where I'm coming from? As for Hobbit, Hobbit did say some rather uncalled for things. Put yourself in my shoes and then see if I'm still such a cold hearted person? Remember I only just found out the other day and I [i]am[/i] trying to find the best alternative situation, I can't just click my fingers and make miracles happen! Mei Mei, I really do hope for your sake that your son never turns nasty to your dog, from what I understand of autism its not likely that he will turn against her in the same kind of way. Let me just remind everyone that schizzophrenia is one of those diseases that is inconsistant, one day you will be feeling fine, the next you will feel the world is out to get you, or in Willems case, the dog. I think the reason he thinks she hates him etc is because she watches him garden and then pulls out the plants he has just planted. I have told him many times to bring Lily in when he's gardening if that bothers him, but its just hard for me to control the whole situation. I will have a chat to mum about his medication though, he's seemed worse over the past few days. I think maybe he's got his hands on some pot, it makes him worse, but its impossible for us to wipe out everyone who deals with it in armidale so although we have managed to make sure he very very rarely gets it, he still occasionally gets some I think. :evil:

I doubt he's serious, but if he is he needs some serious educating. Preventions better than cure, read the signs and stop the dogs BEFORE they're at each others throughts. Anyway, I don't have time to write this now, our familys having a domestic... Gotta go!

[quote=Bentley's Dad]canned food is for cats and really really old dogs :P[/quote] ??? I always used to feed my dogs on canned food, until I started feeding them raw meat instead. Our cats get raw meat too, its far superior than anything you can get in a can.

[quote name='Hobbit']If he truly does have a medical condition, then what's going to stop him from seriously injuring the dogs? Or worse, another person? Aroura --- you have given conflicting stories several times.[/quote] Are you accusing me of lying? Why would I lie about a thing like that? Yeah, maybe he could injure another person, whats going to stop him, I don't know? Are you suggesting we lock him up in a mental institution? Or even prison, just because he happend to be born with this disease? I think you need to get yourself a life!!! Stop judging, if you want to judge people stay away from me, I don't want to listen to your shallowness. Hobbit, I have no time or patience for your bitching and lack of empathy. :evil: For those who aren't questioning my honesty etc, I have found someone who could probably take her if I can't sort out anything better. He lives just around the corner and has a lovely 18month old Lab who he loves very much. The breeder lives out of town, she has a lot of dogs and although I'm sure she'd be more than willing to help out I wouldn't want to put that upon her. For everyone who thinks I'm a cruel, heartless bitch who doesn't give a shit about my dog, you can all go to hell. I only realized about 2-3 days ago that this was happening, what do you expect me to preform a miracle and have her somewhere else just like that? I'm not a fucking miracle worker! If you must know over the past day or two, since I have found out about this, I have been thinking of finding somewhere else to live, not just thinking about it but actually going out of my way to find people to move out with, but does anyone know how hard it is for a 20 year old with no references, dogs, cats, rats etc to find a house AND a group of people to move out with? Quite obviously I'm not going to just sit back and watch this happen, so why is everybody making out like I am? Oh, and I'm so sorry for the inconveniece to all the people who have said my storys are inconsistant, you obviously have had your perfect little lives without so much as a single little problem which have made your circumstances change from one day to the next, so I'm sorry my life is such a mess :evil:

Anne, yes he is on medication. The doctor has done all he can, the medication controlls the disease, not eliminates. He is generally gentle, but occasionally goes through bad phases, though he particulary has something for Lily. He's 21 years old, and Roo, the reason she was safe is that Willem very rarely goes in my room when I'm not in there, I sat in the computer room which is between the kitchen and my bedroom, and made sure he didn't go in. Still, it wasn't a guarentee, but it was the best I could do. The whole Lily being allowed in the house thing depends on mums mood at the time, I know thats unfair but she's leaving soon so Lily can come in whenever I want. Roo, I thought dad and I were moving out shortly too, but apparently dad wants to keep the house and I don't know whats happening with Willem. I'm hoping that now that everyones aware of Willems cruelness towards Lily that it wont happen anymore, theres always someone at the computer, which looks out on the backyard so when he goes out there now he can be watched. I don't want to give her back to her breeder, not only for my sake but also because she is very attached to me and gets stressed even if I'm only gone a day.

I will keep you all updated (oh, by the way, I just wanted to agree with how beautiful Lily is! Hope her pups are most enthuisiastic in the ring and you'll probably find yourself with a few champions in your hands!) There havnt been any more encounters since then. I'm worried Lily simply reacting to Willems behavior towards her and taking it out on Tessa. Lately Willems taken to chasing Lily around the yard, kicking her, throwing anything he can find at her - sticks, bones, balls etc, and terrorising her in general when he thinks no ones looking. Mum said she'd talk to him about it, but I'm not sure how much that will help as its probably his schizzophrenia thats causing him to do it. I'm worried about her, the other day when no one was home and I saw him doing it I let her inside and he got angry at me and said she's not allowed inside and let her out the front door and continued to chase her infront of a car! It nearly hit her too. So I ran out and she came and hid behind me when I picked her up and carried her into my room where she was safe. She's not usually allowed inside when mums at home, but mums making exceptions now. Still, aside from moving out of home, is there anything I can do to assure her that everythings ok? This is an impossible position for me as I can't make Willem stop, I can't change the house rules as its not my house, and I can't really leave home as without my rent dad wont be able to keep the house :(

I would suggest finding a good breeder and visiting, not just on one occasion, but on several and for your husband to be as cuddly with as many of the dogs as possible. I say on several days as many allergys are worse on some days than others, other factors such as stress may worsen the allergys too. Let me suggest, if your husband does show signs of allergys with a Basset that you seriously think about a poodle. They are not prone to causing allergys as much as many other breeds. Also, they are very intellegent, quick learners which is great for young children as they learn their limits quickly and are not likely to cause too many problems. Also, its a good idea to teach your son responsibility by encouraging him to take his dog to obedience classes, Poodles are also good for this as he can even take it to trials etc as well as doing agility etc with it. We have a little poodle cross, and although I'm a 'big dog' person, our little poodle is a perfect model of a dog that would suit life with a young child. Happy dog hunting! :wink:

Great suggestions everyone, but Trinitys particulary stood out. Trinity, your Lily sounds alot like my Tessa, and your Val sounds like my Lily. Tessa would never be mean for the sake of being mean, or to simply scare another dog into submission. I like your suggestion and I think I'll give it a go. For all those who suggested obedience, Lily came second in her begginers obedience class and never completed her next classes as she came into heat, but she'll be returning next year. For all those who said that if she stays agressive that I should desex her and never breed her, I AGREE 100%!!! But my feelings at this stage is that, she's at the age where many dogs question authority, also she just came out of heat etc so I'm thinking it may not be a case of her being an agressive dog, but that she's just going through a phase brought on by many different factors. Yes, I did give her present to Tessa, under the impression that she didn't even want it! But I know better for next time, I just didn't know she'd react so badly about something she wasn't even interested in. And for whoever said I may have praised her without even realizing... although I did put her straight out after the fight, she had found a choc drop that had fallen out of the present on the way, so yes, in that way she was praised even though I didn't give it to her, she just picked it up before I noticed. She knows I'm alpha though, I don't particulary have to worry about that one, although I'm usually gentle and nice to her, when I'm nasty I'm really nasty.... I never have to hit her, she usually reacts to my voice alone! I'll just have to put this to the practice more in making her realize that Tessa is Alpha.

Anyone who's been reading my post on breaking up dog fights will already know that Lily has just come to that stage in life where she's questioning authority. Yesterday she had a massive fight with Tessa over a silly little birthday present that she didn't even want. For the first time in her life she won a fight, she more than just won it, she's made Tessa afraid to so much as look in her direction. Now Lily's the alpha dog and she's a mean one at that. Last night when she was on my bed Tessa came in for a pat, Lily took one look at her, growled and Tessa skulked away and hid in the cupboard. I'm constantly holding Lily back now because every time Tessa walks into the room she just wants to go her. She's possessive over everything, if Tessa shows the slightest bit of interest in something she'll run over and make sure Tessa doesn't go near it, even if she doesn't even want it. Then today we went to the Pine Forest to have a Barbie with my friend and her dog, Tiger. When we got to my friend, Bellas house, we went to put Tiger in the boot of our station wagon, one glance at him and Lily jumped over the back and started growling and trying to attack him (he's a dane/mastiff cross and very BIG). I had to actually take Lily out of the car, let Tiger in the boot and then sit in the back seat with Lily and hold her head and collar the whole trip while she growled, barked and made all sorts of horrible, nasty noises. So what do I do? She's only a year old, so do I still have hope in resocializing her? Is my best bet to get her to meet as many non agressive, social dogs as possible? I've always looked at people with agressive dogs and thought to myself how irrisponsible they were for not socializing their dogs, now I understand how they must feel. I'm upset that she's turned out like this :cry:

Just to clear up how Tessa got the present in her possetion (for those who asked), I gave it to Lily and tried to make her interested in it. Tessa knew what it was (she loves pressie time!) and so wanted to get to it. Lily showed absolutly no interest in it and came to me for a cuddle, so Claire (my sister) let Tessa go to the present. Straight away, no warning what so ever, Lily just up'd and into'd Tessa. It wasn't just a little scruff, and I just assumed that if I grabbed Lily's hind quarters someone else would grab Tessa's. Of course no one did and so Tessa continued to loose the fight, even though she was the one free to back out she just kept at it. They've been in little tiffs before over bones and stuff, which Tessa always won and nothing became of it. Now Lily thinks she's dominant, and its causing real problems... I'll make another post on that. I've always been looking forward to my little baby growing up... but not like this :(